ES2881779T3 - A barrier support for a queue management system - Google Patents

Abstract

A barrier support (1) for a queue management system comprising: a post (2) having a vertical part (3) adapted to support at least one barrier device and having at its lower end a foot (4 ); and a floor plate (5); wherein: a lower part of the foot and an upper part of the floor plate have a cooperative shape such that the lower part of the foot can fit securely on the upper part of the floor plate and thereby locate the post; one or more magnets (6) are placed on the foot and/or on the floor plate, in such a way that the post can be magnetically attached to the floor plate; an upper surface of the floor plate has a single opening (10) formed in an upper surface thereof, the single opening being circular and located in the center of the floor plate; and a bottom surface of the bottom of the foot has a single downward projecting part (9) formed on said surface, the projecting part being located in the center of the bottom surface and being positioned and formed to fit with the single opening on the floor plate and thus securely position the post on the floor plate; characterized in that the protruding part is cylindrical and the lower surface of the lower part of the foot is formed to coincide with the upper surface of the floor plate in such a way that when the foot is used it completely covers but does not extend beyond from the top surface of the floor plate.

Description

DESCRIPTION

A barrier support for a queue management system

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to queue management systems such as those used in post offices, banks, airports, and many other similar locations. These systems comprise various barrier supports between which the barriers are supported, such as rails, tapes or ropes. The present invention provides an improved barrier support for such systems that can be more securely positioned on the ground.

Background

Queue management systems are well known. These systems generally comprise several barrier supports between which the barriers are supported, such as rails, tapes or ropes. The resulting system directs customers to queue in an appropriate direction and allows them to be served in an orderly manner. Support for a queue management system is described in KR20100100452A.

The barrier supports of many queue management systems are upright posts, each of which has a heavy foot that supports the post in an upright position. Next, suitable barriers are attached to at least an upper end of the post and possibly also a midpoint of the post. Often the barrier will be a retractable tape contained in a cassette that is part of or attached to the post. For example, a simple barrier bracket is made up of a post having a heavy circular foot at a lower end and a cassette at an upper end, from which the tapes can be removed for attachment to the upper end of an adjacent barrier bracket.

There is often a problem maintaining the position of the barrier brackets of the queue management systems. Individual barrier supports can be pushed, pulled, or pulled out of position with relative ease, which can lead to a disorganized or cluttered queue system. To overcome this problem, the barrier supports have been fitted with magnetic bases. In particular, magnets are placed on a lower surface of the foot of the posts and a steel floor plate is provided on the ground. The posts are then placed on the steel floor plates and held in position magnetically. This makes it more difficult to knock down or move a pole without the need to permanently secure the pole to the ground.

In Figures 1 and 2 a barrier support with magnetic base according to the prior art is shown. The barrier support comprises a post 2 having a vertical part 3 and a foot 4 and a floor plate 5. The foot 4 and the floor plate 5 are both circular and have the same diameter. Four magnets 6 are placed on a lower surface of the foot 4 and equally spaced circumferentially around the foot. Each magnet 6 is located in a recess formed in the lower surface of the foot 4 and is glued in position in said recess. The foot 4 is formed of cast metal and the floor plate is formed of steel. The vertical part 3 of the post 2 is screwed to the foot 4 and placed in the center with respect to the foot. When in use, the floor plate 5 is fixed in a suitable position on the floor. The post 2 is then suitably positioned on the floor plate 5, such that the foot 4 and the floor plate 5 are aligned. The attraction between the magnets 6 of the foot 4 and the floor plate 5 acts to keep the post 2 in a proper position.

Although providing good performance in general, the barrier support of the prior art has proven to have some problems. In particular, in some cases the attraction between the magnets 6 and the floor plate 5 has turned out to be stronger than the glued joint between the magnets 6 and the foot 4, which causes the magnets 6 to detach from the post 2 when the post 2 is removed from floor plate 5. Also, due to the attractive force between magnets 6 and floor plate 5, it may be difficult for users to precisely align foot 4 of post 2 and floor plate 5. In particular, once the foot 4 is placed on the floor plate 5, it may be difficult to move the foot 4 relative to the floor plate 5 due to the magnetic attraction between the magnets 6 and the floor plate 5 Consequently, it can be difficult to perfectly align the foot 4 with the floor plate 5 if they are initially misaligned. This misalignment can lead to a disorganized queue system, which is undesirable.

In light of the above, a barrier support is needed for a queue management system that overcomes these shortcomings.

Summary of the invention

The present invention provides a barrier support for a queue management system as defined in claim 1.

The barrier bracket of the present invention has advantages in that it allows a post to be properly positioned on a floor plate without danger of misalignment and then held in that position magnetically. This is achieved in that a lower part of the foot and an upper part of the floor plate are cooperatively shaped such that the lower part of the foot can fit over the upper part of the floor plate.

The floor plate has a single opening formed therein and the foot has a projecting portion cooperatively positioned to locate in said opening. An upper surface of the floor plate and a lower surface of the foot can be formed so as not to be flat and interlock. The foot may have an outer edge that extends around the floor plate when the post is placed on the floor plate

In order for the post to be magnetically positioned on the floor plate, one or more magnets must be located on one of the lower parts of the foot and the floor plate. If the magnets are located in one of these components, then it is necessary that the other component be formed or have parts formed of a ferromagnetic material, such as a steel plate, to allow the two components to be held together magnetically. If magnets are located on both components, the magnets need to be positioned and positioned in such a way as to attract corresponding magnets located on the other component.

In embodiments of the invention, one or more magnets may be located at the bottom of the foot. In such embodiments, it may be advantageous for the floor plate to be formed of a ferromagnetic material, such as a ferromagnetic molten metal.

To allow the magnets to be securely positioned on the foot, it may be preferable that the foot is formed of injection molded plastic. This can allow one or more magnets to be positioned and held in position more easily as they will not be magnetically attracted to the foot material. If the foot is formed of injection molded plastic, it is generally preferable that the one or more magnets are screwed or screwed into position on the foot. This can be accomplished in any way that is apparent to the person skilled in the art. For example, the foot can be molded to have specific fixtures that the magnets can be positioned and screwed or screwed into position. Threading or screwing the magnets into position on an injection molded plastic foot has been found to be a stronger and more accurate construction than gluing the magnets to a metal foot. In particular, in such barrier supports the magnets can be better retained on the foot and can be positioned more precisely on the foot. If the foot is formed from injection molded plastic, it may have a metallic overlay to provide a better appearance when using the barrier support.

A barrier support according to the present invention can comprise, in essence, any number of magnets and those magnets can be provided in any suitable arrangement. In one embodiment of the invention the magnets are located on the foot and there are six or more magnets that are equally spaced circumferentially around the bottom of the foot. Providing a larger number of magnets, particularly six or more, and equally circumferentially spacing the magnets around the bottom of the foot can provide excellent uniform attraction between the foot and the floor plate.

As discussed above, the barrier support of the present invention has the advantage that a lower part of the foot and an upper part of the floor plate are cooperatively shaped such that the post can be safely positioned and Accurate on the floor plate without difficulty. In the invention the floor plate has a single opening formed in an upper surface thereof; and the foot portion has a downwardly projecting projection portion formed on its bottom surface, the downwardly projecting projection being positioned and formed to fit with the opening and thereby securely position the post on the floor plate. The opening is located in the floor plate and the projecting part is formed at the bottom of the foot part of the post to avoid the need for having a projecting part that projects upwards in the floor plate, which, as stated You will easily understand, it may not be advantageous if the floor plate is left in position without a post attached to it.

To allow a post to be easily positioned on a floor plate, it may be advantageous for the opening in the floor plate to be chamfered at its top edge to allow easy placement of the post on the floor plate. The fact that the opening has a beveled top edge means that the protruding part of the bottom of the foot, formed cooperatively, can more easily fit with the opening, but still allows the protruding part to be precisely positioned. and security in the opening.

The floor plate has a single opening formed in an upper surface thereof and the foot part has a downwardly projecting part. This provides a simple and robust construction that allows easy placement of the post on the floor plate. The floor plate has a single opening which is circular and is located in the center of the floor plate; and a lower part of the foot has a single downwardly projecting part, which is cylindrical and is located in the center of a lower surface thereof. The fact that both the opening and the downward protruding part are in the center on the floor plate and the bottom of the foot, respectively, ensures that the post can be precisely positioned on the floor plate using a single opening and the corresponding part that protrudes downwards. Additionally, circularizing both the opening and the downwardly protruding portion makes it easy to locate the post on the floor plate, avoiding the need for precise rotational alignment.

Since precise rotational alignment of the post with respect to the floor plate is not required because the opening and the downwardly protruding portion are circular and centrally located, it is generally preferable that both the floor plate and the foot are circular and therefore rotationally symmetrical. This is preferable since rotational alignment of the post and the floor plate is not required in such embodiments.

In general, in barrier supports according to the present invention it is preferable that the floor plate is not immediately visible to users of the queuing system. To achieve this, the bottom surface of the foot is shaped to match the top surface of the floor plate, such that when the foot is used it completely covers but does not extend beyond the top surface of the plate. of soil.

In embodiments where the bottom surface of the foot is formed to match the top surface of the floor plate, it may be advantageous for the foot to have an outer edge extending downward and formed to extend around of the outer circumference of the floor plate when the post is placed on the floor plate, such that the floor plate is not visible when the post is placed on it. This feature can provide a more pleasing appearance to the barrier bracket and can be a feature that allows precise placement of the foot on the floor plate.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 3-6 and described below.

Drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic of a post of a barrier support according to the prior art;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of a barrier support according to the prior art;

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section through a barrier support in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a floor plate of the barrier support of Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows a lower part of a post of the barrier support of Figure 3; Y

Figure 6 is a plan view of the lower end of the post of Figure 5.

Details of a barrier support 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention are shown in Figures 3 to 6. The barrier support 1 of the figures is composed of a post 2 having an essentially cylindrical foot 4 formed at a lower end of a vertical part 3 and a floor plate 5. The vertical part 3 is screwed to the foot 4 The foot has an outer metal cover 7 that surrounds an injection molded plastic body 8. Six magnets 6 are screwed into the body 8. The magnets 6 are evenly distributed circumferentially around the body 8. The body 8 has a central cylindrical part 9 extending downward from its lower surface. An upper end of the vertical part 3 has a cassette (not shown) attached thereto. The cassette contains a length of retractable tape that can be attached to an adjacent barrier support 1 to form a glue system.

The floor plate 5 is formed by a steel plate. The floor plate 5 is essentially circular and has a central circular opening 10 that is dimensioned to coincide with the cylindrical part 9 of the body 8. In particular, the central opening 10 is dimensioned such that when the post 2 is placed on the floor plate 5, the cylindrical part 9 of the body 8 is located in the central opening and this suitably positions the post 2 on the floor plate 5 such that the post 2 cannot move horizontally with relative to the floor plate 5. To allow the cylindrical part 9 of the body 8 to be easily positioned in the central opening 10, the upper edge 11 of the central opening 10 is chamfered.

Barrier support 1 can be used as follows. First, the floor plate 4 is placed in a suitable position on the floor and fixed in position. Next, the post 2 is placed on the floor plate 4. To do this, the central cylindrical part 9 of the foot 4 is placed in the central opening 10 of the floor plate 4. The beveled edge 11 of the central opening allows the cylindrical part 9 is easily positioned in the central opening 10. Once in position, the magnets 6 will act to hold the post 2 to the floor plate 4. The ribbons can then be extended from the cassette of the part top 3 to a contiguous barrier support to form a glue system. In this way, a barrier support 1 for a glue system can be easily, safely and precisely positioned in position on a floor plate 4 and magnetically held in position on said floor plate 4.

Claims (10)

1. A barrier support (1) for a queue management system comprising: a post (2) having a vertical part (3) adapted to support at least one barrier device and having at its lower end a foot (4); Y a floor plate (5); where: A lower part of the foot and an upper part of the floor plate are cooperatively shaped such that the lower part of the foot can fit securely over the upper part of the floor plate and thereby position the post; one or more magnets (6) are located on the foot and / or on the floor plate, in such a way that the post can be magnetically attached to the floor plate; An upper surface of the floor plate has a single opening (10) formed in an upper surface thereof, the only opening being circular and being located in the center of the floor plate; and a lower surface of the bottom of the foot has a single downwardly projecting portion (9) formed on said surface, the protruding portion being located in the center of the bottom surface and being positioned and formed to fit the single opening. on the floor plate and thus securely position the post on the floor plate; characterized in that the protruding part is cylindrical and the bottom surface of the bottom of the foot is shaped to coincide with the top surface of the floor plate in such a way that when the foot is used it completely covers but does not extend beyond from the top surface of the floor plate. 2. A barrier support according to claim 1, wherein the one or more magnets are located at the bottom of the foot. 3. A barrier support according to claim 2, wherein the floor plate is formed of a ferromagnetic material. 4. A barrier support according to claim 3, wherein the floor plate is formed of molten metal. A barrier support according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the bottom of the foot is formed of injection molded plastic. 6. A barrier support according to claim 5 having six or more magnets equally spaced circumferentially around the bottom of the foot. A barrier bracket according to any preceding claim, wherein each of the one or more magnets is screwed into place on the barrier bracket. A barrier bracket according to any preceding claim, wherein an upper edge of the single opening (10) in the floor plate is chamfered to allow easy placement of the post on the floor plate. 9. A barrier support according to any preceding claim, wherein the floor plate and the bottom of the foot are circular. A barrier support according to any preceding claim, wherein a lower edge of the projecting portion (9) of the foot is chamfered to allow easy placement of the post on the floor plate.